jueves, 22 de diciembre de 2011

As Missouri public health officials investigate the death of a 10-day-old infant who may have succumbed to a rare Cronobacter sakazakii (C. sakazakii) infection, Walmart said it is recalling a single batch of Enfamil powdered infant formula from its stores as a cautionary measure.

Walmart announced that it was removing 12.5-ounce cans Enfamil Newborn powder with lot number ZP1K7G from 3,000 stores in 49 states. It's not clear if other retailers also may have powdered formula from that same lot on their shelves.

According to the Lebanon Daily Record, baby Avery Cornett died Sunday after he was removed from life support. The preliminary diagnosis was an infection with the bacterium Cronobacter sakazakii (formerly called Enterobacter sakazakii) a rare cause of bloodstream and central nervous system infections in infants. The fatality rate among infected newborns has been reported to be as high as 33 percent.

What caused the Missouri baby's infection is yet unknown, but there has been compelling evidence in other cases of C. sakazakii that milk-based powdered infant formulas served as the source. World Health Organization guidelines advise that parents should be aware "that powdered infant formula is not a sterile product and may be contaminated."

Mead Johnson, manufacturer of Enfamil, said it is working with health authorities to identify the source of the Lebanon, MO, baby's infection. A spokesperson told local reporters that the company tests ingredients and finished powdered infant formula products for C. sakazakii, and that the batch used by the child's family tested negative for the bacterium when it was produced and packaged.

Gena Terlizzi, with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, told local media in a statement that "at this point it has not been determined whether the bacteria are linked to the formula or an outside source." The Laclede County Health Department sent the Enfamil newborn formula, water used to mix the formula and another liquid formula to the CDC and FDA labs. Test results are pending.

Walmart said concerned customers can return the recalled powdered formula from lot number ZP1K7G for a refund, or call 1-800-BABY-123 for more information.Source: FoodSafetyNews

lunes, 28 de noviembre de 2011

Application of the Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) for food-borne illness.

With Salmonella-tainted ground turkey sickening more than 100 people and Listeria-contaminated cantaloupes killing 15 persons this year, the ability to detect outbreaks of food-borne illness and determine their sources has become a top public health priority. A new approach, will enable government agencies and food companies to pinpoint the exact nature and origin of food-borne bacteria with unprecedented accuracy.

The standard method of tracing food-borne illness involves breaking up the DNA of bacteria samples into smaller pieces and analyzing their banding patterns (fingerprinting).

But scientists often find that different strains of bacteria have common DNA fingerprints that are too genetically similar to be able to differentiate between them, making it difficult to establish whether the Salmonella that made one person sick was the same Salmonella that infected another person. This was the case in a Salmonella outbreak linked to salami made with contaminated black and red pepper that included 272 cases in 44 states between July 2009 and April 2010.

By sequencing the genome of 47 samples of the bacteria -- 20 that had been collected from human sources during the outbreak, and 27 control samples collected from human, food, animal and environmental sources before the outbreak -- he and his team were able to rapidly discriminate between outbreak-related cases and non-outbreak related cases, isolating four samples believed to be connected to the pepper contamination.

The use of genome sequencing methods to investigate outbreaks of food-borne bacterial diseases is relatively new, and holds great promise as it can help to identify the temporal, geographical and evolutionary origin of an outbreak. In particular, full genome sequence data may help to identify small outbreaks that may not be easily detected with lower resolution subtyping approaches.

Researchers developed the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) test that is specific to the 2009 pepper-associated outbreak. A similar approach has previously been used in hospital settings to trace pathogenic bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, but this is its first application for food-borne illness.

New consumer campaign to increase good handling practices for produce at home

Public perception of risk from raw vegetables remains very low in the United Kingdom, according to new consumer research conducted since E. coli outbreaks this year in Britain and Germany were linked to contaminated produce. Those outbreaks have led the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to begin a public awareness campaign to get more people in the UK to handle, store and cook raw vegetables safely.

"Vegetables: Best Served Washed" is the theme of the ad campaign that will run in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland between now and next January.The previous campaigns have highlighted the risks associated with preparing raw meat and poultry, however, recent E. coli outbreaks linked with vegetables and sprouted seeds have shown that handling fresh produce, particularly if it carries particles of soil, can spread harmful bacteria."

The "consumer engagement research" commissioned by FSA included both video recordings of four in-home interviews and four focus groups.The goal was to explore attitudes about risk, beliefs about food safety, and triggers that might change behavior. This is the advice:

- Washing and scrubbing vegetables reduces bacteria as well as dirt and chemicals.

- Bacteria carried on a range of vegetables could contaminate other foods.

- Cooking vegetables kills bacteria and was perceived to be a potential defense.

Based on a recent consumer report, FSA's new advertising campaign includes the following messages:

- Always wash hands thoroughly before and after handling raw food, including vegetables.

viernes, 25 de noviembre de 2011

Probiotics up-regulates a locus in vivo that is involved in the catabolism of xylooligosaccharides (fruits and vegetables).

Understanding how the human gut microbiota and host are affected by probiotic bacterial strains requires carefully controlled studies in humans and in mouse models of the gut ecosystem where potentially confounding variables that are difficult to control in humans can be constrained.

In addition, gnotobiotic mice harboring a 15-species model human gut microbiota whose genomes contain 58,399 known or predicted protein-coding genes were studied before and after gavage with all five sequenced FMP strains.

Results: No significant changes in bacterial species composition or in the proportional representation of genes encoding known enzymes were observed in the feces of humans consuming the FMP. Only minimal changes in microbiota configuration were noted in mice after single or repeated gavage with the FMP consortium.

However, RNA-Seq analysis of fecal samples and follow-up mass spectrometry of urinary metabolites disclosed that introducing the FMP strains into mice results in significant changes in expression of microbiome-encoded enzymes involved in numerous metabolic pathways, most prominently those related to carbohydrate metabolism. B. animalis subsp. lactis, the dominant persistent member of the FMP consortium in gnotobiotic mice, up-regulates a locus in vivo that is involved in the catabolism of xylooligosaccharides, a class of glycans widely distributed in fruits, vegetables, and other foods, underscoring the importance of these sugars to this bacterial species.

The human fecal metatranscriptome exhibited significant changes, confined to the period of FMP consumption, that mirror changes in gnotobiotic mice, including those related to plant polysaccharide metabolism. These experiments illustrate a translational research pipeline for characterizing the effects of FMPs on the human gut microbiome.

lunes, 21 de noviembre de 2011

Stressed E.colistrains maintained culturability on lettuce leavesEscherichia coli O157:H7 continues to be an important human pathogen and has been increasingly linked to food-borne illness associated with fresh produce, particularly leafy greens. The aim of this work was to investigate the fate of E. coli O157:H7 on the phyllosphere of lettuce under low temperature and to evaluate the potential hazard of viable but nonculturable (VBNC) cells induced under such stressful conditions. First, we studied the survival of six bacterial strains following prolonged storage in water at low temperature (4°C) and selected two strains with different nonculturable responses for the construction of E. coli O157:H7 Tn7gfp transformants in order to quantitatively assess the occurrence of human pathogens on the plant surface. Under a suboptimal growth temperature (16°C), both E. coli O157:H7 strains maintained culturability on lettuce leaves, but under more stressful conditions (8°C), the bacterial populations evolved toward the VBNC state.

The strain-dependent nonculturable response was more evident in the experiments with different inoculum doses (109 and 106 E. coli O157:H7 bacteria per g of leaf) when strain BRMSID 188 lost culturability after 15 days and strain ATCC 43895 lost culturability within 7 days, regardless of the inoculum dose. However, the number of cells entering the VBNC state in high-cell-density inoculum (approximately 55%) was lower than in low-cell-density inoculum (approximately 70%). We recorded the presence of verotoxin for 3 days in samples that contained a VBNC population of 4 to 5 log10 cells but did not detect culturable cells. These findings indicate that E. coli O157:H7 VBNC cells are induced on lettuce plants, and this may have implications regarding food safety.

Specific immobilized phages can take over the Listeria and/or E. coli O157:H7

The recent Listeria and E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks associated with cantaloupe and raw beef in North America reveals that the current available methods and procedures for food safety are lacking to achieve full control of these deadly pathogens. New packaging approaches, by Canadian researchers from the Sentinel Bioactive Paper Network, for improving food safety are ongoing and offer unique solutions for biocontrol by using immobilized phage.

To prevent these food-borne tragedies from happening in the future, researchers are using harmless viruses called phage to kill targeted pathogens (including Listeria and E. coli) that could be present on the surface of foods. A phage, in simple terms, is a harmless virus that can kill bacteria. Phage use has received regulatory FDA approval in the United States as a safe food additive in certain food products, along with Health Canada issuing a letter stating no objection for the use of phage. An immobilized phage can take over the Listeria and/or E. coli O157:H7 bacterial cell and produce new copies of itself inside the cell. After the phage reaches critical levels, the phage breaks open the bacterial cell and destroys it, thus not allowing the pathogen to multiply on a food surface.

Sentinel researchers published work in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology describes their method to stick phage onto cellulose material and explains when foods (ready to eat meats, raw meats) are wrapped in the package the harmful cells of Listeria and E. coli are killed by phage that have been placed on the packaging. This packaging option works at refrigeration temperatures, at which pathogens can still grow. The packaging solution can be used for modified atmosphere and vacuum packaged meats. This is one of several technologies being investigated by the Sentinel Network, a NSERC strategic network that can help to make food-borne illness a thing of the past.

miércoles, 26 de octubre de 2011

Listeriosis have occurred in 26 states in people aged younger than 1 to 96

Potentially contaminated processing equipment and problems with packing and storage of whole cantaloupes at a Colorado farm likely led to the deadliest Listeria outbreak in the United States in 25 years, which has so far claimed 25 lives in a dozen states, federal health regulators said Wednesday.
Pools of water on the floor of the Jensen Farms packing facility in Granada, Colo., equipment that was not easily cleaned and sanitized and failure to cool newly harvested cantaloupes before sending them to cold storage all contributed to the outbreak, the first-ever Listeria contamination blamed on whole melons, federal Food and Drug Administration officials said Wednesday.
"We are quite confident and certain," that those factors led to the outbreak blamed so far for 123 illnesses in 26 states, said a senior advisor to the FDA's CORE Network in the Office of Foods, who spoke at a Wednesday press conference.
The news that the problem may have been prevented through basic sanitation practices stunned Jeni Exley, whose 84-year-old father, Herb Stevens of Littleton, Colo., has been hospitalized for nearly two months after a Listeria infection caused by contaminated Jensen Farms cantaloupe. He might be able to return home finally this week, said Exley, 55, whose family is suing the farm with the help of Seattle food safety lawyer Bill Marler.
"Shame on them," said Exley. "What kind of statement can I give you without being too angry? It shouldn't have happened. They had control over it."
Investigators tested fruit samples and equipment from Jensen Farms and confirmed the presence of four outbreak strains of the listeria monocytogenes bacteria confirmed in the illnesses and deaths.
The FDA said Jensen Farms, which is based in Holly, Colo., had recently bought used equipment that was corroded and hard to clean.
For example, the equipment used to wash and dry cantaloupe showed signs of dirt and product build-up, even after it had been disassembled, cleaned and sanitized, the FDA's report said. The equipment had been previously used to process raw potatoes, officials said, which could have left listeria bacteria behind.
In addition, a truck used to haul culled cantaloupe to a cattle operation was parked near the facility and could have introduced contamination to the facility, investigators said. Low levels of Listeria monocytogenes in the field also could have introduced the bacteria into the packing facility. And the design of the plant allowed stagnant water to pool on the floor.

lunes, 24 de octubre de 2011

For large farming operations, food safety audits are commonplace. Most buyers require them before purchasing produce. However, small farms are rarely inspected by auditors, because the cost of implementing a safety plan can be too expensive.

That's where bridging the GAPs - a program need to be designed to help small and mid-sized growers find a way to meet food safety guidelines - comes in.

Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) is a set of protocols approved established worldwide that farmers can follow to prove they're growing and harvesting in a way that minimizes the risk of crop contamination.

The obstacles that stand between small and midsized farms and GAPs certification are multiple but the key elements include:

- Employees must be educated in sanitation practices and have access to clean hand-washing and waste facilities

- Sick workers are not allowed to handle food or processing surfaces

- Irrigation water has been tested and does not flow from an uphill source that could be contaminated with human or animal feces

- Livestock are not in close proximity to crops, and fences around fields keep out wild animals

- Raw manure is applied to crops at least 120 days before harvesting and records are kept of composted manure treatment

- Records (register) are kept of what crops are planted in what field, what date they're planted and harvested and where they were sold, so that produce can be traced back to its origin in the case of a recall

Another problem farmers raised was the requirement that storage containers be new or sanitized before use, and not stacked if they've touched the ground. Buying new crates is expensive, and not stacking clean crates that have been on the ground next to crops drags out the harvesting process.

One of the things these farmers are unfamiliar with is the documentation needed to prove that they're taking measures to meet GAPs. Letting raw manure compost for 120 days doesn't mean anything if you don't record the dates on which it was added, turned, checked for temperature and then applied to plants.

martes, 18 de octubre de 2011

A necessary enzyme called myrosinase is missing from most of the supplement forms of glucosinolates.

Some vitamins and nutrients, like the folic acid often recommended for pregnant women, are actually better-absorbed as a supplement than through food. Adequate levels of nutrients like vitamin D are often difficult to obtain. But the particular compounds that we believe give broccoli and related vegetables their health value need to come from the complete food.

The reason, researchers concluded, is that a necessary enzyme called myrosinase is missing from most of the supplement forms of glucosinolates, a valuable phytochemical in cruciferous vegetables. Without this enzyme found in the whole food, the the body actually absorbs five times less of one important compound and eight times less of another.

Intensive cooking does pretty much the same thing. If broccoli is cooked until it's soft and mushy, its health value plummets. However, it can still be lightly cooked for two or three minutes, or steamed until it's still a little crunchy, and retain adequate levels of the necessary enzyme.

Broccoli has been of particular interest to scientists because it contains the highest levels of certain glucosinolates, a class of phytochemicals that many believe may reduce the risk of prostate, breast, lung and colorectal cancer. When eaten as a raw or lightly-cooked food, enzymes in the broccoli help to break down the glucosinolates into two valuable compounds of intensive research interest -- sulforaphane and erucin.

Studies have indicated that sulforaphane, in particular, may help to detoxify carcinogens, and also activate tumor suppressor genes so they can perform their proper function.

Most supplements designed to provide these glucosinolates have the enzyme inactivated, so the sulforaphane is not released as efficiently. There are a few supplements available with active myrosinase, and whose function more closely resembles that of the whole food, but they are still being tested and not widely available.

Small amounts of the myrosinase enzyme needed to break down glucosinolates are found in the human gut, but the new research showed they accomplish that task far less effectively than does whole food consumption.

Although broccoli has the highest levels of glucosinolates, they are also found in cauliflower, cabbage, kale and other cruciferous vegetables.

The size of one microbial metagenome (one host's microbiome) is 150 times larger than the human genomeWageningen scientist Professor Willem M. de Vos recently explains how the microbes that are closest to our hearts – gut microbes – could underpin a new way of thinking about human biology. As well as looking at our own genes, we can now include those of our microbes in studies of human health and disease. This is a significant shift in the way we approach human biology.

Normal gut microbes impact in our health by producing vitamins, priming our immune system and contributing to resistance to pathogens. For example, recent studies have shown that the insulin resistance of patients with type 2 diabetes is linked to the intestinal microbiota composition and can be beneficially altered by replacing it with the microbiota of healthy donors.

The genes of our gut microbes, also known as the microbiome, act as a personalized organ that can be modified by diet, lifestyle and antibiotic usage. This organ is fed partly by us and partly by our diets. Professor de Vos and colleagues have classified the human microbiome into three enterotypes: clusters of microbiomes with similar compositions and nutrient-processing preferences. These enterotypes are characterized by bacteria with different capacities to degrade carbohydrate and mucin (a gel-forming protein). Our gut microbes get carbohydrates partly from our diet, whereas the mucin is produced by our own body.

Although these enterotypes are separated by species composition, it doesn't necessarily follow that abundant functions are provided by abundant species. To investigate the relationship between the microbiome and health, scientists must establish the functions of the products of their microbiomes.

"We have evolved with the microbes in our gut, our microbes inside, and have discovered that they talk to us and we feed them with, among other things, the mucins we produce. We now are trying to unravel their functions and understand exactly what these microbes and their products mean to human health" said Professor de Vos.

The size of one microbial metagenome (one host's microbiome) is 150 times larger than the human genome and encodes 100 times more genes than our own genome. This extensive gene catalogue could enable us to study potential associations between microbial genes and human phenotypes and even environmental factors like diet, throughout the length of our lifetime.

domingo, 9 de octubre de 2011

As many as 20 percent of consumers are more vulnerable to foodborne illness due to their age or health conditions that affect their immune systems.

In addition to the elderly, susceptible people include young children, pregnant women, alcoholics, diabetics and people stricken with AIDS, HIV, various cancers, multiple sclerosis and other diseases that affect their immune systems.

The British medical researchers compiling findings from scores in the U.S. and Europe reconfirms that some people are more vulnerable than others to foodborne pathogens. In most outbreaks of Salmonella, E. coli and other microbial agents, a disproportionate number of reported victims are very young or very old.

The research seeks to quantify that increased risk, and concludes that in the U.S., UK and other developed countries, between 15 percent and 20 percent of the population are more susceptible to foodborne pathogens.

Vulnerability arises often because of immune suppression, through either disease processes or the medications used to manage them, and at the extremes of age or in pregnancy. The vulnerability means that fewer bacteria, especially foodborne or waterborne organisms, are needed to cause disease and increase the severity of the disease.

The key strategy is a diet of food that is less likely to carry pathogens. Their list of "higher risk" foods include:

miércoles, 5 de octubre de 2011

The food involved is a lot of grape tomatoes.A Cincinnati company is recalling approximately 57 pounds of salad containing meat and poultry, because the grape tomatoes used in the salads may be contaminated with Salmonella, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Saturday. Greencore USA was notified by its grape tomato supplier, Pearson Foods, that a specific lot of grape tomatoes was being recalled due to potential Salmonella contamination. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the recall of grape tomatoes on Sept. 28, 2011.There are no reports of illness.The recall include 5.6 oz. plastic bowl containers of "Thornton's Quick Café's Chef Salad" with an "Enjoy By" date of "09/30/11", "10/02/2011" or "10/03/2011."Each package bears a label with the establishment number "P38518" inside the USDA mark of inspection. The salads being recalled were produced on Sept. 26 and Sept. 28, 2011, and were distributed to retail stores in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee.Consumers with questions regarding the recall should contact the company's Technical Manager, Mary YoungAporte: Lilian Rojas